The psychology behind buying.

[AdamB]

Strange - I have no intention of 'ripping' any designs from anyone as I have unique designs of my own that I would feel equally upset if they were 'pilfered' by others.

I do find it very strange though that you turn business away, if I came across your site on google - and enquired about purchasing something would you turn me away then?

[DREAMGLASS]

I turn a few people away from business Adam. Those that still try to pay with cheques despite being told I don't accept them, those from countries that are notorious for the mail being pilfered and those that ask for items I don't stock.

Likewise with the original art, I don't accept commissions, however lucrative they may be, as that is too much like working for someone else for me.

We all have diversity in the way we work and run our enterprises I guess.

[AdamB]

Ok - I can take a hint buddy, no problem.

Was this one of the reasons (getting your designs ripped off) that you changed your username on TSF ?

[DREAMGLASS]

The main reason was the number of PM's and business offers I used to receive on there. Folks from China & Poland wanting me to promote their sublimation coatings and other products in Europe. Stateside suppliers looking for a European distributor, folks with print costing software wanting to market it in Europe. A lot of those were legitimate business enterprises, but I have zilch interest in working as an agent for others. As those were getting out of hand with the quantity I received, Rodney was good enough to change both my username on that account and set me up a totally separate username and account with no connection.

On another specialist software forum I am both a moderator and a technical advisor. Although not in the same quantity, I still get requests to build entire websites or create custom programming for people. Think I am going to print myself up a tee that says "I don't work for others", well not directly anyway.

[jennywren]

I've no idea on the philosophy of buying or selling, apart from sublimation, I sell gifts which I buy in from wholesalers , the only thing I can say for example and this has happened to me. I sold pigs ( pottery china , etc ) ( plus other wildlife ) put out the pigs, sold like wildfire, brought a few more, sold out, brought LOADS of pigs got stuck with them, where had the pig people gone. And the reason for that is that whilst the pigs were flying out ( no pun intended ) I focused to much on pigs, flooded the market, forgotten about the other customers that did not buy pigs, I committed the cardinal sin, I had ignored my other customers for the sake of the pig people. Pigs have all gone but I learnt my lesson

[giftsne]

I've no idea on the philosophy of buying or selling, apart from sublimation, I sell gifts which I buy in from wholesalers , the only thing I can say for example and this has happened to me. I sold pigs ( pottery china , etc ) ( plus other wildlife ) put out the pigs, sold like wildfire, brought a few more, sold out, brought LOADS of pigs got stuck with them, where had the pig people gone. And the reason for that is that whilst the pigs were flying out ( no pun intended ) I focused to much on pigs, flooded the market, forgotten about the other customers that did not buy pigs, I committed the cardinal sin, I had ignored my other customers for the sake of the pig people. Pigs have all gone but I learnt my lesson

Im gonner tell this "the pig people" story to my kids tomorrow......Excellent post..really made me smile and a very valid point

[purpledragon]

whilst the pigs were flying out

would that be swine flu then ?

[DREAMGLASS]

'JennyWren' picks up a valid point about concentrating on just one line of product. I suppose we all do that to a certain extent. Some avenues I don't go down, like I won't create 'slogan tees' as there are myriads of folks banging those out for around a fiver, but I guess we should all explore some new avenues to cater for a broader customer base.

The whole psychology question was down to a tee design I sold in the run up to Christmas last year. It was a design I quickly created just to get as many items up for sale for the festive trade. It became my best selling tee and I sold loadz of them, but have sold none of that design so far this year. Likewise the previous year another tee design went ballistic with the Christmas sales period but sold only one the following January. Neither of those tees had any festive connection, no robins, no reindeer, just strong sales.

I know large retail groups invest a lot of time and money in understanding the psychology of buying, In supermarkets aisles are laid out in specific ways to maximise sales and whilst we all understand the simple pyschology of having chocolate bars right next to the till (you deserve a treat after queuing) there are many other things happening behind the scenes to push those sales up. You end up with customers unpacking the shopping at home afterwards, with items they are not sure why they have bought.

The psychology of buying exists everywhere if you think about it. You are made to feel a bad parent if you don't use XYZ fabric conditioner for your poor suffering offspring, you become the social outcast if you are wearing the 'old' football shirt even if it is only four months old and hardly discernible from the 'new' shirt. Vehicles no longer get you from A to B but represent 'lifestyles' even though most of them will end up stuck in daily traffic jams, rather than sitting on a mountain top, or sitting at the waters edge on a deserted beach somewhere.

For the rest of us, irrespective of what we are selling, if we could find the 'trigger' that makes people buy, just think of the possibilities. I still have no idea why some designs sell better than others though, irrespective of who is selling them. I just wish I did.

[jennywren]

maybe its simple at it was Christmas and they like the t. shirt it was a gift, iI know from experience that you should never buy stuff you like to sell, my husband is a prime example if he says he like it , it rarely sell. when I pick something and he's says its crap, you'll never sell it, you can guarantee that it fly out. that's why car boots do so well, it might be crap to us but CRAP SELLS. Three cheers for CRAP

[DREAMGLASS]

Yep crap sure does sell well. That's why the likes of Poundland does so well.

I know at Christmas folks buy budgeted presents. They allocate a figure of £5 for Auntie June's present (mug), £10 for Uncle Pete's present (t-shirt) and so on. Whatever fits into that budget they buy.

Outside of Christmas it's virtually impossible to know whether garments are bought by the intended wearer, or bought as presents for others. In that context, it is impossible to know whether you are designing for what someone actually likes, or what someone else presumes they may like.